Dragon Ball Z
Lose yourself
Summary: After the devastating loss of her mother 14 year old Saiyan warrior Rika travels to Earth with her father in hopes of finding a Saiyan of whom they had lost contact with almost 24 years ago when their home planet was destroyed – when the reunion turns deadly it leaves the young warrior questioning her loyalties…but who will she side with? Her violent father or her long-lost uncle?
Rated T for violence, coarse language and injury detail.
Prologue
4 hours ago…
"Keep your guard up, next time"
Sallah told her daughter as she patched up the teen's bicep up of the rather deep gash that had dribbled blood down most of her arm as she had failed to take heed of an enemy soldier who flanked her until it was too late though only escaping with the deep cut rather than her life being cut short unlike his when her mother took him out with a full power Ki blast she had personally created called 'Atomic Blaster' which had completely obliterated the enemy soldier thus saving the teen Saiyan's life for sure.
"I should have seen him…" her daughter replied with a sigh as she winced slightly at the gentle treatment of her wound that still felt as sore as it could be "…had I not hesitated on killing that other fighter…" she added knowing she could at least be honest by her mother who seemed to understand the trials the young warrior faced each and every battle, she looked up at the elder Saiyan who had short black spiky hair and bold onyx eyes that seemed to soften a little upon hearing her daughter's somewhat harsh judgment of herself "…why can I not be like you and father?" she asked after a moment of thinking.
"You hesitate because you want to believe there is another way around the situation without bloodshed…" Sallah stated as she finished tying the dressing around her daughter's arm before moving to sit beside her on the large slab of what used to be a building in the smouldering wreck of a city "…the others would call you 'weak' and 'foolish' for thinking such a thing…" she sighed a little catching sight of the teen giving her a displeased look.
"I am not weak…" she stated bluntly almost forgetting that she was talking to her mother "…what do you think?" she asked after a moment wondering if she thought the same as the others.
"I don't think you're weak…" the elite Saiyan told her shaking her head "…if anything you're stronger than the others…stronger than me too…" she added looking at the young Saiyan's expression change from displeased to a little taken aback "Your father and I have been doing this far too long, as have Vegeta and Nappa…" she told her daughter "…you're young and have so much of your life ahead of you – " she added but soon both of their scouters crackled to life with sudden activity as a gruff voice spoke to the pair of them through the earpieces.
"Sallah, Rika – report back to the pods immediately"
"What's up, Vegeta?" Sallah was the first to answer her tone seemed curious with a slight hint of concern as she addressed her younger brother.
"We have company – it seems the maggots of this planet have a few tricks up their sleeves" he told her via the device "Just get here as soon as possible and be ready to fight"
"Sure thing, little brother" she replied before looking to Rika who sat beside her on the rock "Let's not keep them waiting…" she sighed some with a small smile – most saiyans were known to almost everyone as barbaric monsters who only wanted to fight and kill indiscriminately but Princess Sallah was one of the few who seemed to have a good heart under a somewhat jagged and battle-worn exterior – maybe that was the reason her father seemed to pay her less attention and always favoured his first-born son instead who was five years younger than Sallah who seemed to have to fight for attention from her father – she knew almost exactly how Rika felt despite her daughter being an only child.
Soon enough the mother and daughter duo took to the skies for a short flight back to the space pods where the three male members of their team were changing their slightly battle-damaged armour suits for fresh ones under the seats of their pods – along the way it was clear to tell that the fighting had gone on for days rather than mere hours unlike their last assignment, some cities were still aflame though almost out while others were just smouldering and charred beyond belief by the sheer force of five Saiyan warriors.
As they landed they were greeted by the sight of a large bald man dressed in the typical dark blue armour with gold trim and shoulder guards who seemed to be the first to notice them as they walked towards the pods, a smirk spread across his lips as his moustache seemed to tilt a little with the amused look he flashed their way.
"Ass" Sallah muttered to herself as he passed by most likely off to find food or scout the area, it was clear to most that she didn't think much of the taller Saiyan even after having stayed in the same group as him for almost 24 years.
"Mother…" Rika whispered nervously not wanting to see yet another argument between the two of them again as the last was violent enough though it had been interrupted by an attack from the planet's inhabitants "…calm yourself, I don't like him either…" she added once he had passed before they walked closer to where the two other Saiyans had been standing talking battle tactics for what they would be up against soon if the transmission was anything to go by, one was a short, spikey-haired male with a blue battle suit on that fully covered his arms and legs of which was under a white and gold armoured vest with white gloves and boots in the same colours as the vest of which had the royal family's seal on it's left chest plate rather similar to that of her mother's except for the colour difference in the armour with hers being red and white much like that of the late king of the Saiyan race.
The other Saiyan was also a male taller than the other with a large jet black spikey mane that ran down to his lower back, his face seemed slightly thinner and a tad harsher than that of the other Saiyan with the royal crested armour but he seemed to smile a little at the two females heading their way, he was dressed in a different variation of the battle armour worn by his comrades as his was black and a copper-ish brown with black under-shorts as his tail wrapped around his waist like all the others, he waited for them to get over to where he and the prince stood looking at the electronic map that currently lay on a rock bleeping with activity of the enemies that seemed to be a couple of hours out from landing rather near to their current position.
"Glad you two decided to join us…" the prince huffed a little as he looked mainly at his elder sister "…what took you so long?"
"We ran into some resistance…" Sallah stated with a raised eyebrow at his remark "…they landed a lucky shot on Rika but she's patched up" she added though this seemed to catch the taller Saiyan's attention as he looked at Rika's arm.
"Are you alright?" he asked her with a tad concern in his voice as any parent would be for their child.
"I am now…thanks, dad" Rika nodded to her father looking up at the large warrior "Mom got him" she informed him "…before you say it, I know I should have been more careful…" she sighed afterwards as she knew her father wasn't as easy going on her as her mother was but in the life of a Saiyan careful isn't always a luxury they could afford.
"We all make mistakes…" Raditz admitted which actually caught the young Saiyan off guard a little "…just watch out next time, alright?" he added as he rested a hand on her shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze, though at times it didn't seem like it he did care a lot about his daughter – he just wanted to toughen her up a little as she seemed somewhat soft-hearted which is yet another luxury they could not afford as that bred hesitation to do what is necessary and in turn could be the difference between life and death.
"Yes, sir" she smiled feeling a little more at ease around him now as she'd expected him to bellow at her like he had the day before.
After a few moments the tall, bald Saiyan returned from his stroll as they gathered around the map that seemed to show a cluster red dots heading towards the planet and getting much closer as each moment passes, it seemed to count that the approaching enemy was about 15 strong compared to the 5 Saiyan warriors who waited to greet them in a violent fashion.
"Why so few?" Rika spoke up first after counting the blips.
"They must be this planet's elite warriors or somethin'…" the bald Saiyan spoke up, his name was Nappa the former bodyguard of Vegeta and Sallah back when they were children – though now the middle-aged Saiyan was now more a member of the team rather than a bodyguard, he was stronger than both Raditz and Rika though he was barely even half of what Sallah could bring to the battlefield with her level of over 14,000 in strength thanks to her royal and elite blood – supposedly – though out of all of them Vegeta was the strongest as he still had over 19,000 built up via the years of intense training in his youth.
"Possibly" Sallah nodded as she took a closer inspection of the map "Hmm…if you look they seem to be flying in some kind of battle formation…" she pointed to the almost perfect 'V' like structure with what could possibly be the leader at the tip of the point.
"Might be the challenge we're waiting for…" Raditz smirked earning a smirk from both Nappa and Sallah though Vegeta remained quiet as his team talked amongst themselves while Rika seemed to just look at the map as the blips became almost perfectly circular in shape as though they were battle pods while remaining in the V-formation.
"Exactly…" Sallah smirked "...they don't stand a hope in hell's chance against us" this remark seemed a little over-confident for Vegeta's liking as he shot her a look.
"Don't be so rash in judgment, Sallah…" he told her in a calm tone "…we cannot afford another incident like on Planet Miakos, can we?" he added this seemed to draw a small glare from the female elite Saiyan.
"It won't be…" she replied in a short tone "…besides…we're all older now and more experienced"
"What happened?" Rika asked as she looked between the two a little puzzled by their conversation.
"Bad decisions cost a few lives…" Raditz told the curious teen "…it happened a couple of years before you were born" he added like it was nothing for her to be worried about.
"It was more than just 'a few' lives…" Nappa muttered.
"Shut it, Nappa" Sallah seemed to growl at him in an instant – the look on her face showed more contempt and anger than Rika had ever seen in her life even from a person as mellow as her mother.
"What the hell are you gonna do if I don't?" Nappa replied glaring back at her "Think you can take me?" he added with a smirk looking at the fiery look on the woman's face "Bring it on, Princess…" Rika reached out a hand to touch her mother's wrist hoping she'd not do anything stupid in front of her own daughter but soon a voice bellowed catching both of their attention towards the owner of it.
"Enough!" Vegeta snapped at the quarrelling Saiyans as he looked between them "Save the animosity to fight them…NOT each other" he told them all but this was mostly aimed at his sister and their former guard who seemed to be trading glares between one another before Sallah seemed to snort with amusement showing a side that she seemed to share with her younger brother – a side of egotistical big-headedness that rarely surfaced until that moment.
"Heh…I got plenty to go around" she spoke up mainly aiming such a comment at her current rival…
If only she knew…
~ Now ~
Rain poured down upon the battlefield as smoke billowed out of rubble piles that used to be the semi-destroyed buildings of mere hours ago, fresh bodies lay all-around of the invaders whilst one of which was different…
There she lay her face dirtied by both blood and grime from the battles before though there was also a certain paleness to her complexion that only seemed to grace those in the grasp of death itself, her armour cracked around a hole that seemed to run all the way through her middle as her dark onyx eyes seemed to stare absentmindedly as though looking up into the purple skies above where she lay as a grief filled teen pulled at her trying to wake her from this state…it was too late, she was gone.
"M-Mom…? Wake up!" she sobbed her hands gripping at the damaged armour vest while tears spilled down her blue-blood smeared cheeks mixing with the rain as it fell upon them "Don't leave me…please…I-I need you…" she uttered as angry sobs seemed to break up her words – her own body was wracked with pain and her hands showed signs of burns but none of this seemed to bother her as much as the sight of Sallah's broken body lying in a puddle that was dyed crimson with her own blood "WAKE UP!" the teen wasn't giving up as her father stood looking stunned by the sight of what had happened.
"Rika…she's gone…" Vegeta uttered his voice even showed rare signs of emotion as he looked saddened at the sight of his distressed niece trying to revive her mother "…we need to go…" he told her though she seemed to blank him completely "Rika?" he called a moment later but there was still no reply as she stopped shaking her mother and began crying even more – seeing he was getting nowhere with her, he looked to Raditz "Can you try and get through to her?" he asked his comrade who stood a few feet from him.
"Why should I?" he replied his tone void of emotion which earned him a look from the prince.
"The girl has just lost her mother…" Nappa stepped in looking at Raditz "…she needs her father"
"It's her fault…" he muttered "…she's no daughter of mine" a hint of bitterness seemed to seep into his tone before he walked away leaving just Nappa and Vegeta looking at the teen who still cry over her mother's body.
"We need to get her away from the body…" Vegeta sighed looking up at his taller comrade.
"She's not going to leave willingly…" Nappa replied as he crossed his arms "…it's a damn shame about Sallah…" he added with a sigh "We had our differences but I never for a second thought she'd be taken down so soon…" he admitted.
Vegeta nodded before he looked over at his niece "I guess I have no choice…" he muttered as he walked over to the teen and knelt beside her taking a moment to close his sister's eyes so she looked more peaceful as though she was sleeping – well if you didn't take any notice of the huge hole in her gut and the dribble of blood that had cascaded from the corner of her lips down her pale cheek "…I'm sorry…" he uttered quietly to the teen as he moved a hand round to the back of her neck with the palm facing upwards just as she turned her head to look at him.
"Why did sh-..." was all the teen could manage before she felt a solid *whack* to the back of her neck which seemed to shock her system jerking her forward as she lost consciousness in a matter of a couple of seconds falling flat on her front over the body's chest – the world around her seemed to be swallowed by the darkness as the last words she heard belonged to her uncle…
"Forgive me…"
After that the darkness welcomed her with suffocating warmth and soon her worries were no more for the time being…
A/N: So here is the opening chapter of my story – sorry it opened on a bit of a dark note and some of it may not really make sense but things will be explained as the story progresses and hopefully Rika grows with it.
Remember reviews give Goku strength for his Spirit Bomb! :-P
Thanks
S19
